Bane of a Fallen King
by maddy-liddell
Summary: "The court holds one Mr. Blake, guilty of espionage and plotting to unleash chaos on this orderly city. You have two options Mr. Blake: death or exile."
1. Chapter 1

Ashes to ashes; dust to dust. He promised the city a steady flurry of ashes, and with winter came the coldest downfall Gotham had ever seen. The bliss of snow sheathed corpses under an inch of crystals. Boots crunched through ice as juveniles ran rampart through the city on a terrorizing spree. Best of all, Gotham was free of its Dark Knight.

Within the looted halls of Town Square, Bane watched from a balcony as society devolved a few ages. Crowds gathered around a pile of debris shaped to form a tall judges' podium. A man sat at the throne, banging a meat tenderizer at the mahogany surface. Each bang shushed the crowd more and more. It was reassuring to know people weren't too barbaric to abandon their manners.

"The court holds one Mr. Blake, guilty of espionage and plotting to unleash chaos on this orderly city. You have two options Mr. Blake: death or exile." the judge slouched forward in his seat as he spoke.

Detective Blake glared but gave no response.

"Folks? Death or exile?" the crowd shouted violently but "exile!" was chanted from greater mouths.

With that, the judge banged his meat tenderizer on the podium a final time to rest the case. Mr. Blake was bounded with rope and dragged out of the hall with the crowd following close behind. Bane followed as well. He was never interested in watching any sentence be carried out, but Mr. Blake intrigued him. It was difficult to tell from behind the mask, but his eyebrows cocking downward showed enough curiosity.

Outside at the pier, the crowd had pushed Blake onto the ice. His ankles, as well as, his arms were still tied behind his back.

"Walk! Walk! Walk!" they shouted.

Useless words.

He couldn't get up and walk even if he wanted to. But still they badgered. It wasn't until Bane stepped forward that the chanting stopped. Blake twisted his body to face the silence. All eyes were upon him but the look Bane gave-it was overpowering.

"Your hero is gone. Your commissioner is a liar and a fraud. This city isn't your home anymore. And for weeks you tried so hard to unravel every strand I've weaved to form this great city. Exile isn't fitting."

Bane began to wander forward, stepping onto the ice to stand before Blake. "I will break you, as I broke him." he whispered. Bane reached into a pocket inside his coat to pull out a worn out switch blade. He tossed it aside a few feet behind Blake. As Blake twisted to look, Bane kicked him in the gut, then once more with the soul of his boot tossing Blake aside towards the knife. His intentions were clear. He wanted a real fight. He wanted to watch Blake struggle before judgment was laid out for him.

Though the intent was a little humiliating against Blake's tough guy demeanor, he accepted the blade and with little ease freed himself from the rope. He stood upon the ice as Bane strayed close. It was curious, Bane walked without a care that any misstep would send his body plummeting through the ice to a cryogenic grave. Blake however barely moved at all. Every twist of his heel caused a spiderweb of cracks along the icy surface.

Bane took advantage of the immobilized Blake, sending his fist into the man's gut to send him soaring once more.

"The only way I will allow your death is if you put up a fight." he shouted. Blake moved himself onto his knees and stood. The ice felt a little more firm where he now stood. He took the opportunity to charge at Bane. Lifting his left arm, Bane prepared to block, but Blake tricked him. He under hooked with his right arm, smacking his fist into Bane's gut. Apart from a rough jolt, the blow did nothing to stagger him.

Bane clutched his gloved hand at Blake's throat and slammed his body down into the ice. "Weak. So weak. This is the man who annoys me during Wayne's absence?" Bane put his foot on Blake's torso and pushed down slowly. Cracks began to spread like wings behind Blake. The ice molded downward with each press.

"There is no place for you in my city." Bane whispered. He pressed his boot down once more, sending Blake through the ice. From across the shore, the crowd jeered at Blake's loss.

"He had my permission to die."

The rubber treads of Bane's boots crushed the snow dusting upon the ice as he came back to the pier to the gleeful heckling of his followers.

You couldn't tell from behind his mask, but the apparent wrinkles spreading like cracks at the ends of his eyes showed signs of ancient muscles shifting to force a smile, perhaps brought on from sending one of his foes to a watery grave.

But it didn't last.

As Bane placed his foot down a hand breached the ice to grab at his ankle. Blake wasn't so easily defeated. Bane pulled back, but in doing so, Blake rose from the icy water. His drenched body shivered in pain with blood dripping down from his nose.

"I must honor you, detective. It takes a brave man to seek death a second time. But it appears I am not your harbinger today. We will fight again-soon."

Bane kicked Blake in the side, sending his body skidding along the ice. When Blake stopped, he remained motionless, lying on the surface like a beaten hound.

"Soon." Bane repeated. His followers weren't thrilled with the motion. Some volunteered to put Blake out of his misery right then and there. But Bane denied it. He wanted a challenge.

With the fall of the dark knight, Blake was the only remaining threat.


	2. Chapter 2

The city streets lay in shambles. Democracy began to show a new face, one twisted and formed with the stitching of extremist behavior and barbaric individualism. The only containment came from the white snow that settled below. Winter's grasp kept Gotham in a tight and timeless form.

At city hall, many of Bane's followers began to fight amongst themselves. They questioned the strength of their king-the man of very little word who abandoned his strong demeanor and settled down after victory. The moral began to dissipate at a hastening pace as the fighting continued.

Many of Bane's followers formed sub gangs, some simply quit, and others-many of whom previously loyal enough to keep their very being as expendable-showed disturbing signs of defection. In Bane's absence, the people gathered to hold court. They charged Bane with "failure as king" as one from the jury called out.

Dr. Victor Fries led the charade and spoke on behalf of the folks around him. "All good things must eventually come to an end. Bane gave up on us the moment he killed Batman. True, we are without a threat. But food is becoming scarce, buildings require a lot more maintenance, and our very hierarchy and governing system needs a stronger voice." The crowd cheered him on.

The banging of a gavel silenced the room. "I hereby grant Dr. Fries temporary power over some of our forces. Bane is found guilty of failing; his punishment is death..." Before he could lower his gavel, Dr. Fries spoke out. "Allow me the honor of bringing him down. This man may be an old dog now, but he's still overpowered."

"Then what makes you so special that you can take him on yourself?" the judge inquired.

"Look out the window. Winter is my realm..."

Walking casually down the road alone, the masked man moved towards Freeze. The weather did nothing to bother him.

"You're getting old Bane. This city requires a better ruler." Freeze shouted. The suspense was frigid between them.

"And you think you would do better? Would you have killed the Batman? Would you have killed off the entire police force? Would you have taken away the stature of power previously wielded by those fools in the trading center or in the office buildings or in the governing system?" Bane inquired.

Freeze only grinned, showing little sharpened wrinkles at the edges of his mouth and icy cracks all along his lips. This was a man who devoted his entire life to the study of cryogenics, a man who drove himself insane after tragedy, and a man who gave up his soul in favor of power over ice. The two men had many strong differences. They both stood over the people of Gotham like quarreling gods.

"I would have razed this city and left the ignorant fools in a tomb of ice!" Freeze finally shouted. His remark better showed just how much he resented humanity by comparing his figurative actions to the actions the people took on the eve of his wife's death.

Bane began to charge towards Freeze, holding his arm back to deliver a powerful blow to the doctor's jaw. It staggered the man only slightly.

"Arrogant fool!" Freeze shouted. He clutched his fingers into a fist but his skin began to harden and crackle as if frozen solid.

He swung for an under hook, but Bane caught Freeze's fist in his palm and used his freehand to thrash at the Doctor's wrist in hopes of shattering it. As Freeze tried to withdraw, Bane continued to punch at his wrist. Bits of frozen skin began to flake off with every blow.

"No!" he shouted. But Bane continued. "Enough!"

The people watched as Dr. Freeze began to lose. "So not even a superhuman freak can take on Bane?" one of the men whispered.

Finally, it broke off. Freeze shouted in agony as Bane shattered his wrist clean off. "Enough! Enough dammit!"

"You must suffer more. Then you have my permission to die."

Freeze formed a spike of ice in his defense but Bane grabbed it instead. He pushed Freeze onto his back and drove the spike straight through his other wrist. Droplets of blue blood began to ooze out from the wound as the man screamed in pain. Bane pulled back, driving the spike through the wrist over and over till the man lost both of his hands.

The sight made the crowd move back in terror-which was surprising considering many amongst them were serial killers and rapists.

"No more! I yield! This city is yours!"

"You still do not have my permission to die." Bane's words were always subtle and emotionless. "Who is the king of Gotham?" Bane asked.

"You are! YOU ARE! I was wrong to question you! I was wrong to dishonor you!" Freeze began to show cowardly motives to entice the madman to hold off on his assault.

Finally, an emotion. Bane chuckled and got off of Freeze. "You see? You all questioned my rule and put your faith in this man. He promised to rule Gotham better than I could. He promised to put me to death. Who's standing?" No one replied. "You have my permission to die now."

Bane slammed the spike through Freeze's neck. The doctor stared up at Bane with terror in his eyes. He jerked his arms around, wanting to pull out the spike or quell the bleeding, or just survive as best he could. But it wasn't long before his eyes rolled back into his head and he went limp.

Gotham was as it has always been. Bane walked away, dragging his boots through the snow as if to further show his dominance by crushing the ice beneath his feet.


	3. Chapter 3

Society has taken a turn for the worst. Gotham was joined together by dangerous criminals and the average working man, but both classes became dysfunctional rather quickly. Gotham was no longer "for the people".

It became a lawless society of barbaric gangs and lonesome assassins. Bane lost his control regardless of his abilities as a fighter. Everyone wanted a piece of the city, to be "free" and rule supreme. Perhaps this was Bane's plan all along? Regardless, his once loyal followers filtered out. Some even wanted him dead. He became the new target of discrimination with the leave of Batman.

A crowd of hooded teens gathered around a barred-off hotel, shouting profanities and throwing stones at the windows above. It was hard to make out what they were all saying, but one word spoke clear: "Bane!"

The masked man stood at the window, staring down at the crowd below as they cracked his glass with debris. Bane was alone in his hotel room. He spent most of his days locked with the entire hotel to himself. This was either his prison or his city.

He closed the curtains to block out the light and proceeded to lie down on his bed. Soot-stained fingers glided over the round tubes protruding from his mask.

"How do you eat?" a feminine voice spoke from the doorway. Bane turned his head to face his intruder.

Catwoman leaned against the frame of the door, dangling keys from her index finger.

"I was wondering when you would notice me." she threw the keys to the bed. Bane slowly reached for them then reached into his pocket. These were his keys.

"Clever girl." he whispered. "What business would you have with me?"

"This city needs him."

"Him?" Bane knew well who she meant. But the words stood to be spoken; to give an upsetting inspiration to rise from the bed.

"Batman."

Bane sat up and turned his head to crack his neck. "Do you honestly believe he's coming back? He faced his fate long ago."

Catwoman approached Bane, slapping him across the face with her clawed gloves. Bane never budged, even when small beads of blood began to ooze out of the fresh cuts.

"Is this the Gotham you wanted? It's full of rapists, murderers, and kidnappers. There are gangs everywhere. This isn't 'for the people'. It's against them. They even-"

"Enough!" Bane grabbed her by the throat, lifting her slowly off the ground as she gripped his wrist to keep her neck from snapping. Catwoman tried to speak, but her breathlessness left her gasping for air, not words.

"I don't care for this city or its people. I especially don't care for you." Bane threw Selina across the room. As she hit the floor, he kicked his nightstand at her. She pushed it aside and attempted to stand and fight. But her attempt was denied.

"Hey!" a voice called out from the doorway. Detective Blake stood staring at Bane. His wounds had been wrapped up and tended to.

"I was beginning to wonder about you." Bane chuckled to himself. "Are you ready to die now?"

Blake charged at Bane, pushing his body up against the glass window. He delivered blows to the man's face that did nothing to hurt him but annoyed him instead. In his defense, Bane gripped Blake by the throat. But Blake squirmed to break free. He used his elbow to push Bane harder, attempting to knock him out the window.

"Do you hear that?" Blake shouted. Outside, the people could see the commotion. They egged Blake on, shouting pleas for Bane's death. "They can have you!"

Blake threw his entire side into Bane, knocking him through the window just in time for Bane's grip to loosen up on Blake's neck. The man fell three stories into the crowd below who quickly surrounded him. They pulled at his arms and legs, some punched at his sides and at his face. The man was treated like a ragdoll.

"The mask!" one man shouted. Numerous people tried to pry the mask off with their fingers but their attempts were brushed off. Bane pulled in both his arms and legs and broke free from the crowds grip. He attacked them one-by-one, knocking bloodied teens down on the street.

"Freak!" the assault became more brutal with some of the men smacking wooden and metal bats against Bane's back and face. Apart from quick jolts and sudden head jerking, the swings did nothing to hurt him. As one man attempted to swing, Bane ripped the bat from his hands and smashed his head in with it. He walked over the man's corpse and started to swing at anyone in front of him to escape the crowd. At least a dozen beaten bodies lined the street before everyone backed off. Bane threw the bat aside and started to walk down the lonely road to find new sanctuary.

From the hotel window, Blake and Selina watched with trepidation.


	4. Chapter 4

The days of winter came to an end, but the sky never lost its grey blusterous sheet. The inhabitants of Gotham were still as vile and barbaric as ever, but all ignored Bane-leaving him to become the bane of his own demise.

As he was perched on the steps of New Gotham Cathedral, he dropped his heavy soviet coat, leaving it behind to cope with the warmer weather. Besides, its tanned outer layer was blackened with dirt and caked with blood, it reeked of sweat, and the seams were disintegrating. It was better to go bare with a simple yellowed muscle shirt and let his arms breathe a little.

As he stared out at the streets in front of him, he couldn't help but notice a semi-deflated red ball rolling sluggishly in the streets as the wind carried it. It drew attention away from the torched cars and bent signposts. It's been months since Gotham echoed with the sounds of childish laughter. It's been years since Bane was last graced by the sound of innocence.

"We'll meet again." a young female voice echoed in the back of his mind. His past began to cloud his vision until a single tear rolled down his cheek. "Talia." he whispered aloud. Anger and rage took over. It's been months since he last saw her; his only friend. Bane dug his fingers into the concrete, lifting a flank of the cathedral steps to throw at the ball. It bounced away, heading towards a storm drain where it fell into its permanent prison.

At the doors to the cathedral, an elderly priest stood watching Bane curiously. He made his presence better known when the doors creaked open wider.

"You're welcome inside." the priest said. His wrinkled face bared no judgment.

"There is nothing for me inside your church." Bane turned his back to the priest as he descended the steps. But the priest walked after him. "I have fresh water. I can also-"

"You know who I am and yet you pester me? Why? So that I may 'redeem' myself in the eyes of your lord?" Bane gripped the priest's collar, pulling the man in as he interrupted. "I won't judge. After so many years of personal hardship, it's better to just help people as much as I can."

Bane grunted. "A glass of water. After that, I leave. Your church is no sanctuary, priest." The priest gave no reply. He led Bane into the crumbling cathedral and closed the door behind him.

Inside, the floorboards were lifted or snapped off to reveal a large patch of soil with a few weeds and tomato and strawberry crops growing by sunlight that came in by the grand stain glass windows. Pews were stacked against the walls-some damaged. Where the alter should have been, there was a water cooler and a stool with a bible resting crooked on it and a shoddy olive green sleeping cot in the far back of the room.

"I'm surprised this hasn't been razed." Bane admitted. He knew the starving situation some faced in Gotham.

"Soon, I'm sure. Nothing can last forever." The priest poured water from the cooler into a tiny foam cup, offering it to Bane. He stared down into the cup, slightly disgusted by the murky brown coloring.

"If you expect this place to be looted, why have you stayed?" The priest took in a deep breath then kneeled to pull out a few weeds growing in his indoor garden. "Because this is my home. It's OUR home."

"Our home?" As Bane pondered his words, a tiny girl peeked out from behind the pile of pews. She gave a concerned stare at Bane, her childish hands held a broken piece of lumber.

"It's okay. He won't be here long. Come say hello." the girl walked slowly up to Bane, keeping her grip on the plank tight and firm.

"Why are you muzzled?" she asked. Her fear and curiosity were aimed at his mask.

"It keeps me from biting." Bane joked. Neither the priest nor the girl laughed.

"It's often too dangerous to go out. So I stay here with my granddaughter. We pick at the strawberries all day and I read her stories before bed." The priest walked up to his granddaughter and ruffled her blonde locks with his hand.

"Is she worth protecting?" Bane asked out of curiosity.

"Of course. Anything you love is always worth saving." Bane stared down at his reflection in the cup of dirty water. He saw himself for a moment, then Talia. He longed to see her beautiful face again. This separation was never meant to be.

"I should go." He dumped the cup of water onto the crops below then tossed it aside.

"Talia, would you show the man out?" The little girl skipped towards the door, prying it open with struggling force.

Bane placed a hand to his chest to feel his heart beat a little harder after hearing a familiar name spoken aloud. A muffled sigh emitted from behind the mask as he exited the cathedral.


	5. Chapter 5

"Bow to your new Queen!"

A modified police cruiser slowly patrolled the empty streets of Gotham's financial district. The taped-down megaphone on the roof of the car blared out the same repeated messages, "Bow to your Queen! Support her or die!"

Bane watched the cruiser pass him by. The man at the wheel paused at his words when he noticed Bane outside of the church.

"Gotham's reckoning is in the hands of someone with real power now. The city and her people deserve a true ruler not a washed-up Darth Vader." the man shook his head as he gave one last look at now. The city and her people deserve a true ruler not a washed-up Darth Vader." the man shook his head as he gave one last look at Bane before driving off to continue his hark.

It didn't take long for Bane to put two and two together.

"Queen?"

"Talia?"

It made perfect sense. She disappeared shortly after Batman's deathly exile and she shared the same vile distaste for humanity that her father had. "Bow to your Queen!" the words were faint now.

Across the street from the church, a car alarm suddenly blared. A group of teens were trying to break into an abandoned car left parked outside a looted general store. Their clueless antics involved one of the boys jumping on the hood of the car and another trying desperately to jiggle the handle in hopes that the car would magically unlock.

Bane approached the teens; they stopped to stare at him.

"Piss off, freak." one of them yelled. A tall scrawny boy stood an inch away from Bane, pushing his hands on the man's chest to shove him back. It did nothing but slightly push the boy back instead. Bane held his hand out, gripping the boy's face as he slammed the back of his head into the window of the car door then tossed him aside. The other two teens looked stunned. They grabbed sturdy debris from the sidewalk to smash into Bane's face.

"So young and naive." Bane grabbed one boy by the wrist and twisted to break the bone. He threw the boy down on the ground next to the other boy he injured.

"Fuck off!" The last boy was the bravest. He came at Bane with a bent stop sign, struggling to swing it at his face. Bane grabbed the post and ripped it from his hands. He lunged his elbow into the boy's chest to knock him down then drove the sign post straight through his lower abs.

"There is no control without fear." he whispered. The two other boys limped to get away, leaving their friend behind as they shouted and begged for the help that never came. Bane reached his hand inside of the car through the smashed window, pulling up on the lock mechanism. As he now sat in the driver's seat, he felt around the car, hoping to find a spare key or something. With luck, a spare was hidden in the back of the glove compartment. He turned the vehicle on and drove off-destination city hall in mind.

It was evident who really controlled Gotham now. A large crowd had gathered in front of city hall but showed obedience rather than the usual vicious banter and violent protesting. Though, it was still a means of control. Not a soul in the crowd hid their eyebrow-cocked stare of concern as a row of gunmen aimed their assault rifles at them.

At a podium set up just outside the entrance to the hall, a woman spoke. "My father saw humanity as a vile plague. For the months I've been here in Gotham, I see his words to be true. Little by little I have picked at this city to find the order in the chaos. It has become very evident that it didn't exist. I am in control now. Bow to your Queen."

Many in the crowd looked around at one another, not sure of how to respond. A lone gunman near Talia raised his gun and fired a shot into the air.

It caused the crowd to bend their knee in Talia's "honor".


	6. Chapter 6

With all eyes on Talia, no one paid much attention to the gunshot-beaten, thrashed up vehicle approaching. The gunmen all watched, keeping their assault rifles nestled against their shoulder as they waited patiently for the driver to step out and join the crowd. But when Bane stepped out, they all lowed their guns to point at him. Talia paused her speech in frustration. "Never thought I would see you in this crowd." Talia spoke to Bane over the loud speakers that surrounded the crowd. As he slowly made his way towards Talia, a gunmen in front of the crowd fired off two shots that sparked off the ground in front of his feet. "Hold!" Talia shouted. "This speech will have to continue some other time. Important business has come up. Return to your homes and remember… Your queen is ALWAYS watching." The crowd remained silent at her words. Talia cocked her head back as if to send a gesture of "come inside" to Bane. He aptly obliged as his distant friend and her henchmen disappeared into city hall. The crowd turned to face him now. But as they wandered past him, no one made eye contact. No one looked up past the ground. No one tried to find hope. Even Bane showed no emotion in his lifeless blue eyes. Except…

A small child sitting on the stairs outside the building drew with chalk while his back faced Bane. But as Bane neared the entrance to city hall, he could see the revelation of the child's imagination. A bat symbol was drawn crudely on the stairs. Just as the boy finished, an older woman lifted the boy up off the ground and carried him away. "Come home soon." It said under the bat symbol.

Inside city hall, the lobby appeared empty. The doors creaked and echoed as they shut slowly behind Bane. "Talia?" Bane whispered. The sounds of gun mechanisms chirping were his only reply. The gunmen surrounded him, each of them showing no emotion as they kept their hand steady. "Why are you here?" The sound of heels clicking against the tiles approached from the front. Two gunmen parted aside for Talia to approach Bane. "I gave you a chance to exile yourself when I left. Why are you here?" "I promised to bring the reckoning to Gotham. I thought I would do it for you and I to watch together." Talia was silent. Somehow, she expected as much. "Things change. We see my father's revelations quite differently. Humanity deserves nothing. It doesn't need to be destroyed, it needs to be controlled. I'm afraid I can't rule with you breathing over my shoulder." Her words packed an incredible sting. "I brought you Gotham. It was handed to you on a silver platter. Even the so-called 'guardian' fell at my hand. I sacrificed much to bring you to safety as a child. I made you rise when you only wanted to fall. And here you are, turning your back because I'm not longer needed." Talia turned her back to Bane then held her hand out. The gunman on her right handed over his weapon. She turned back around and aimed the gun at his head. "I'm sorry." She whispered. At the last second, she lowered the gun to fire a shot at his chest. He staggered for a moment, but remained standing. Another shot was fired. He fell to the floor with a loud thump, holding his hand over the twin wounds that oozed with crimson plasma. "Leave him to die. He deserves that much. But drag him outside. I want to be left alone to work." Talia and her men walked away while two stayed behind to drag Bane outside. He only watched the men, keeping his muscles limp as his vision began to fade and his cloaked breathing began to ease.


	7. Chapter 7 alpha

"Deshi basra."

A whisper pierced the darkness.

"Deshi deshi basra basra."

Growing louder the more it was acknowledged. The words rang a bell for Bane who listened to the voices without a regard for its source. "Deshi Basra." The chanting became more focused; emitting from a single voice now. "Arise." Bane opened his eyes to stare blindly at a stocky shadow that eclipsed the twilight sun. "Arise." An elderly man moved aside to continue encouraging Bane to stand. "You should be the last one to fall." His brittle voice reflected years of wisdom. Bane struggled to get up as the fresh wounds in his chest oozed with blood. Still, he managed to show a remarkable feat of strength by towering over the raspy old man. "In this little game we call life, Talia has proven herself to be a wonderful pawn. And if she's a pawn, you can consider just how lowly her followers are. She is as stubborn as Melisande was. Gotham does not need a monarch. It needs to be buried in the ground with the blights of humanity six feet beneath it." The elderly man shook as he spoke; his anger sent vicious tremors through his bones. "Take her out. Take this entire city out! DESHI BASRA! DESHI BASRA!" Bane could only stare in bewilderment as the man went on a verbal rampage. He gripped Bane's vest in his tiny hands and tried to pull madly as he ranted. But not a sign of interest was shown on Bane's face with the exception of raised eyebrows. Suddenly, he faltered. The elderly man collapsed in front of Bane, holding a hand to his chest as agonizing whimpers escaped his chapped lips. Bane sank to his knees, reaching a hand out but the elderly man smacked it away. His bulging pale blue eyes gazed viciously into Bane's hues. "I do not fear death. I will be back. I will always be back." A froth of saliva oozed from his lips as he flashed a twisted grin. Shortly after, the elderly man went limp; no doubt dying of an apparent heart attack. It was clear to Bane what the man represented though the seriousness of the matter was beyond his own comprehension. "Melisande…" Bane recited to himself. It was the only word he needed to piece together the old man's puzzling rant. He kept his hand pressed firmly on the twin wounds on his chest and staggered forward towards his vehicle. "There is still time for a reckoning." He whispered. "But now is the time for rest."


End file.
